Inagural Post...or, sample ramblings

As a brand-new blogger recently introduced to the blog sphere, I am a bit intimidated by the blank screen which beckons a succinct and relevant inaugural post. I will be learning a lot of technical navigation as I go, so if you happen to have stumbled upon this blog, bear with me as I set out into world of blogging.

As I mentioned in the 'About Me' section, I have started this blog as a place to collect my thoughts about the profession of Library and Information Science in light of the Catholic faith. Through ongoing reflection and analysis, I seek to examine how the Information profession and the living the Faith are not mutually exclusive, but rather, are complimentary.

The foundation for this dialogue rests on the view of the librarian and information professional as not only a job, but a vocation to which one is called. Library and information professionals are called to an incredibly noble profession, insofar as it is through tools and resources like the internet, books, journals, etc., that people are able to search for Truth. To a certain extent, we are the technical facilitators of this pursuit. Viewed as such, it is a great responsibility for Christian information professionals to become the best technical practitioners possible. Hence, on this blog I would like to post both interesting professional articles that relate to technical aspects of the library and information science, as well as Church documents and literature that help us to view our professional responsibilities in a dynamic and fulfilling Light.

In closing, I think fundamental aim of this blog center around the following words of the late Pope John Paul II in his encyclical Christifidles Laici or Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation of His Holiness On the Vocation And The Mission of the Lay Faithful in the Church and in the World:

"The voice of the Lord also comes to be heard through the historic events of the Church and humanity as the Council reminds us: "The People of God believes that it is led by the Spirit of the Lord who fills the whole world. Moved by this faith it tries to discern authentic signs of God's presence and purpose in the events, the needs, and the longings which it shares with other people of our time. For faith throws a new light on all things and makes known the full ideal to which God has called each individual, and thus guides the mind towards solutions which are fully human."[6 ]

"The Church, in fact, lives in the world, even if she is not of the world (cf. Jn 17:16). She is sent to continue the redemptive work of Jesus Christ, which "by its very nature concerns the salvation of humanity, and also involves the renewal of the whole temporal order."[31 ]

"In this regard the Exhortation Evangelii Nuntiandi, that had such a great part in stimulating the varied collaboration of the lay faithful in the Church's life and mission of spreading the Gospel, recalls that "their own field of evangelizing activity is the vast and complicated world of politics, society and economics, as well as the world of culture, of the sciences and the arts, of international life, of the mass media. It also includes other realities which are open to evangelization, such as human love, the family, the education of children and adolescents, professional work, and suffering. The more Gospel-inspired lay people there are engaged in these realities, clearly involved in them, competent to promote them, and conscious that they must exercise to the full their Christian powers which are often repressed and buried, the more these realities will be at the service of the Kingdom of God and therefore at the service of salvation in Jesus Christ, without in any way losing or sacrificing their human content but rather pointing to a transcendent dimension which is often disregarded."[76]

"It is of singular importance that scientific and technological research done by the faithful be correct from the standpoint of service to an individual in the totality of the context of one's values and needs: to these lay faithful the Church entrusts the task of allowing all to better understand the intimate bond that exists between faith and science, between the Gospel and human culture."[221]

As library and information science encompasses a wide variety of disciplines, I hope that this blog can be of interest not just to those in the IS and MLS field, but others who are also seeking to integrate faith in their own professional realm. Ideally, I hope that this can be a place where others can dialogue about faith and reason in action. I place this site in the hands of Our Lady, Seat of Wisdom, Sedes Sapientia. Through her intercession, may we draw closer to the Truth day after day. May we continually seek Christ, the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and more clearly see the ways in which He is manifested in our lives today.